The Walking Dead: Living your own life
by DiscordantSymphony
Summary: "You don't owe these people anything." Clementine takes Jane's advice to heart.
1. Chapter 1

The Walking Dead:

Living your own life

Chapter One.

Clementine sighed as she watched Kenny stalk back to the half finished house through the snow, she was so damn exhausted that her entire body felt like it was tied to lead weights and she was being dragged further and further down under icy cold water, it was just like the lake only this time there was no one to pull her out of it.

She was so damn tired of this, she couldn't handle it anymore. The entire group was at each other's throats, if Luke and Rebecca were still here they might be able to calm things down a bit but they were both gone and everyone seemed to force the duty of calming Kenny down on to her, she was eleven years old, was dealing with Kenny so terrifying that they had to force it on to her? Were they all that cowardly?

She couldn't do this anymore, the stress of it all was going to kill her before any walker or bandit could do it. She had to get away from them all, had to get far, far away.

She wondered how she would be able to do this when she noticed that the keys were still in the ignition, she could use the truck. Now she didn't really know how to drive but she had seen both her parents and other people do it and like Jane had said, there weren't any cops anymore so it wasn't like anyone was going to pull her other for driving underage.

A part of her couldn't even believe she was considering this but another part of her, a far larger part of her, was telling her to take the truck and go before someone came to check on her and ask why she was taking so long to come in from the cold.

Clementine took a deep breath to build up her courage before she opened the truck door and took a few slow steps away from the truck, when she was certain no one was watching she ducked around the side of the truck and walked around the back to where the tool shed where they were keeping all their supplies.

It was locked with a padlock but hitting the lock with her hatchet got rid of that problem and it thankfully didn't make too much noise all things considered, and she walked over to the large green duffle bags which held all the supplies.

She wasn't going to take everything, she may be done with the group but she wasn't a monster who was going to leave them to die. She empty all three bags on the ground and filled one bag up with enough medicine, food and ammo to last her for a good while, a couple of months if she strictly rationed.

She also picked up an AK-47, she wasn't sure if it was Bonnie's or the one they had taken from Arvo's group but it didn't really matter, it was heavy but she was able to carry it easily enough all things considered. She slowly made her way back to the truck, taking extra care not to make too much noise.

She placed the bag and the AK-47 in the back seat of the truck along with the bag of supplies before entering the front seat and staring out the windshield before slowly reaching for the keys.

She stopped just as her fingers brushed the cool metal of the keys.

Could she really do this? Make this choice? Once she did there was no going back from it, she would be a thief who robbed from a group of people, her group of people and stole their car. Was this who she was now?

What would Lee do if he was here instead of her? Lee had always put their group first but he also always made it clear that his priority was to protect her, and this was her best chance.

 _"What about AJ? Rebecca asked you to hear for her baby are you going to just go against what was probably her dying wish?"_ Her mind whispered at her. _"What about Bonnie and Mike, their good people who are as scared as you are, are really going to just leave them here with Kenny? What about Jane, she only came back here for you?"_

 _"What about Kenny? if you leave this will break him. He might snap and hurt someone and that will be on your head."_ Clementine hated to admit it but her brain was making good points, would this be something she could live with?

But another part of her brain was whispering at her as well. _"Kenny's dangerous, he get's mad at anything now and he's only going to get worse and worse. Do you really want to be here for the big eruption?"_

 _"And Bonnie and Mike? Bonnie was working for Carver when she came to the lodge, she's a liar we have first hand proof of that. And as for Mike, we only met him a few days ago! We can't trust him, for all we know he might already be thinking of doing this, he did say he was getting sick of all the arguing."_

 _"And Jane? She's only in this for herself, she would probably be proud of us for even considering doing this. It shows we took her lessons to heart and I think she would want us to do this, she can take care of herself."_ Both arguments had their good points and bad points but she was still paralyzed with indecision, what should she do?

When she saw Kenny moving across the living room through a hole where a window should be, well, that made her choice for her. She grabbed the key and twisted it, sighing in relief that the ignition kicked in the first time and slammed her foot down on the accelerator, she made a turn so the truck was facing an old dirt path that lead back down the mountain.

She looked up to see Kenny and the others all come running out, the shock on their faces almost made her stop the truck and get out and beg for forgiveness.

But she didn't.

No turning back.

She slammed down on the peddle and the truck screamed through the night.

Clementine tried to pretend that she didn't hear Kenny screaming her name.

End of Chapter One

 **(A/N. Please review, favourite and follow. Constructive criticism is always welcome.)**


	2. Chapter 2

The Walking Dead.

Living your own life

Chapter Two

Kenny watched as the red taillights of the truck were swallowed by the darkness of the night in disbelief, this wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening, Clementine wouldn't abandon them, abandon AJ, she couldn't even drive for fuck's sake! She was fucking eleven!

He felt the same blinding hot rage that he felt against Carver building up inside his gut, this was all the Russian's fault! He stormed back into the unfinished house, pushing past Mike, Bonnie and Jane, and entered the living room before storming over to where the damn kid was tied up. "You son of a bitch!" He shouted as he slammed his fist right into the kid's noise, loving the feeling of feeling the cartilage of his nose snap against his knuckles.

He hit him again and again and again not stopping until Mike and Bonnie rushed forward and grabbed him, using all their strength to pull him off the damn commie son of a bitch. What was wrong with them? Didn't they understand that this kid was the reason that Clem had just fucking abandoned them in the middle of the damn night!?

"Kenny! You need to just calm down!" Mike said as he tried to hold Kenny back but he was a lot stronger than him and even with Bonnie helping him it was a challenge.

"Fuck that!" Kenny shouted as he tried to break free of their hold. "This all his fucking fault! All of it! He got Luke killed, he made Clem run off now let go of me god damn it, I'm going to fucking kill him!"

"We can't let you do that Kenny!" Bonnie shouted as she tried to pull him back, she glanced up to where Jane was standing across the room. "Jane! For god's sake don't just stand there! Do something!"

Jane sighed and picked up her gun, she walked in front of Kenny, placing herself in between him and Arvo, then placed her gun against Kenny's forehead. "Are you going to calm down?" She asked coolly.

"Fuck you bitch! This your fault as well." Kenny snarled, his eyes wild.

Jane shook her head. "It's always everyone's fault but yours, isn't it Kenny?" She asked as she took the safety off, she had left it on because she hadn't had any true intention to shoot Kenny but he was angry and now Clem had gone so there was no one to pull him back anymore, which meant he was dangerous to the rest of them.

It would be just like putting down a wild dog.

While it was a tempting thought to just put a bullet through his head she knew that Mike and Bonnie might turn on her for shooting him so she simply kept the gun resting against his temple. "I am going to giving you a second to calm down, otherwise I am going to put a bullet in your head, your call."

Kenny snarled and glared at Jane before taking a deep breath and relaxing his muscles. "Okay, Okay I'm cool. I'm alright." He said quietly but his eyes were still bright with anger.

Jane saw it but she did slightly pull the gun away but didn't lower it yet. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes." Kenny said through his teeth, he was still angry but he wasn't going to hurt anyone yet.

Jane sighed and holstered her gun before nodding to Bonnie and Mike to let him go, they both shared a reluctant look before releasing him and stepping away.

Kenny sighed and rubbed his upper arms while sending a glare to Arvo. "We have to get after Clementine."

"Kenny...She's got the truck and she could be miles away by now." Bonnie said quietly, as if she didn't want to believe what had just happened either. She didn't blame Clementine for leaving however, all things considered she would probably have done the exact same thing. Clementine had just gotten there first.

"It doesn't matter, she was just scared and panicked and made a mistake that was all. We need to get after her, get the truck and get on the way to Wellington." Kenny said firmly, they didn't have time for this shit. The more time they spent arguing the further and further away Clementine got.

Mike, Jane and Bonnie all shared a look. Kenny was still dead set on going to Wellington and it was clear that nothing they would say would get him to change his mind about it.

Regardless, he was right about one thing. They needed to get after Clementine.

And for that reason alone Jane wouldn't kill him...yet.

"Gather up the rest of the supplies and grab AJ, we're moving out in an hour." Kenny said nothing else and left the room, Mike and Bonnie both sighed and went over to kneel down next to Arvo and spoke softly to him and Jane...

Jane simply stared evenly at Kenny's back as he left the room.

* * *

Clementine sighed as she watched the needle on the gas gauge slowly but surely go into the red area, she had been driving nonstop and had been going as fast as the truck would go and now it was nearly out of gas and she was barely fifteen miles away from the cabin and if she was right then she only had a few meters worth of gas left.

She drove for those last few meters before the truck eventually ran out of gas and grinded to a slow stop. Clementine sighed and rested her head on the stirring wheel for a moment before taking in a deep breath and undoing her seatbelt, there was no time to feel sorry for herself, she had too keep going. There was no way Kenny wasn't coming after her.

She opened the door and stepped out into the cool night air and then opened the back door of the truck and picked up the bag of supplies and the AK-47 before setting off down the road, if she was right then it would take her a few hours on foot to get back to Howe's.

Clementine didn't plan on staying there but it would be good to get some extra supplies, assuming there was anything left and the herd had moved on by now. If there wasn't and it hadn't...she would think of something.

Clementine stopped walking as she heard a twig snap behind her, there was nothing in the road aside from the truck which by now had just become a featureless shape in the dark night. She had definitely heard something and it hadn't been a walker, if it had then she would definitely have heard some moaning or something like that.

It didn't matter anyway because as Clementine peered into the night she didn't notice someone coming up behind her until it was too late and they slammed the butt of their gun into the back of her head and she crumpled down to the ground.

"Well, Well, what do you know." Was the last thing Clementine heard before everything went black.

End of Chapter Two

 **(Please review, favourite and follow.)**


	3. Chapter 3

The Walking Dead:

Living your own Life.

Chapter Three.

Jane was really starting to regret coming back. She did not want any of this, but here she was walking through a forest in the pitch black and the cold and holding this damn baby only made it worse, she couldn't get to her knife without dropping the damn kid and if she even tried to drop it then Kenny would go berserk and try to kill her.

She would almost welcome it, getting rid of him was for the best for everyone as if she had to guess then it was because of him that Clementine had run off. Jane still didn't know what to feel about that, a part of her was proud of Clem for what she did. She was putting herself ahead of the group, she had seen that this group was breaking apart like an old cookie that had been kept in a box for two weeks, it was better that she had gone rather than stick around to see how it would all fall apart.

But still, it had stung a bit when she had realised that Clem had abandoned her as well, Jane had only come back for her and Clem had left her behind, she supposed that it was more than fair after all, she had abandoned Clem back at that tourist trap. She got the feeling that Clem wasn't going to come back however, why would she? It was better to be on your own, there was no one to stab you in the back.

No one that needed to depend on you.

It was always better that way, no matter what anyone else thought. Trust...it was a luxury now, a luxury that no one left breathing in the world could afford anymore. She certainly didn't want to be one of those people, it would only get her killed. She had seen it again and again and again. She was certain that Clem was going to be better off now, she had to be.

As soon as she saw her chance she was going to break off, she couldn't do it now. Kenny was on a thin bloody line at the minute and she had seen this way too many times before, guys who casted themselves as the hero in their own little post apocalypse action movie and hated it when anyone dared to question there little fantasy.

Guys like Kenny were dangerous, it was just a matter of time. He would snap and everyone would moan and whimper about how they couldn't have known what would happen when the truth was that they already saw what was happening but none of them had the guts to deal with it, in the end it would come down to her to be the one to act and everyone would look at her like she was a monster without even being aware that it was because of her that they could all sleep at night with only having the walkers to worry about.

God, if she had any sense then she would just take off at the first chance she'd get, if she had any sense then she wouldn't have come back in the first place. But logic had fled from her when she when golden eyes had looked so disappointed in her when they had caught her trying to slip away from the rest of the of them atop the deck of a ruined tourist trap.

She had gotten soft, it was going to get her killed one of these days. As soon as she saw Clem and she was certain that she was alright, Jane was going to take off the first chance that she got. Just as soon as she was certain, without any shadow of a doubt, that she was certain that Clem was going to be alright. But, with Kenny and this lot then she would never be alright. Maybe she would just stay long enough to make sure that he was taken care of.

Jane was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of the Russian boy letting out a cry and falling down to the ground, landing hard on to his side. Kenny growled and marched back to him and grabbed him by his hair and dragged him up to his feet. Mike and Bonnie turned around and began to yell at him and Jane let out a heavy sigh as she marched forward, she was really getting fucking tired of this.

"Keep the fuck up, you stupid shit!" Kenny growled, spittle flying from his mouth like he was a rabid dog as his hands came around to clench down on the pale white throat of the kid. The Russian spluttered and gasped and his hands came down on to the bigger man's hands and wrists to try and make him let go but even from where Jane was standing she could tell that the kid wasn't strong enough to make him let go.

"Kenny! For god sake's man! Just stop it, Bonnie help me!" Mike shouted as he grabbed one of Kenny's arms and began to pull him away, Bonnie rushed up and grabbed the man's other arm and began to help Mike pulling him away. The Russian kid fell to the ground and spluttered as he tried to breath while Kenny was being held back, cursing and shouting and demanding to be let go.

Jane glanced around the lines of trees at either side of them and had to bite her tongue to stop herself from cursing out loud, he was going to draw every single walker in a mile's radius down on them. She stormed forward, pushing past the stunned boy from where he knelt on his knees as she drew her knife and raised it. She could hear Bonnie and Mike shouting at her to stop and Kenny complimenting her as colourfully as he could before she slammed the hilt of her knife into the side of his head.

Kenny slumped and Bonnie and Mike let go of him, causing him to fall down like a bag of bricks. Bonnie knelt down to next to him to check his pulse, letting out a sigh of relief before she stood back up and tried to stare Jane, she imagined that she would have been more intimidated if she wasn't fairly sure that she could break the other woman like a twig. "What the fuck was that for?"

Jane slid her knife back into the sheath and crossed her arms. "Well you two weren't doing anything, you were holding him back? Great, but he was making a shit ton of noise and we would be stewing in the guts of a walker by now. Now, since you two like holding him back so much than you can carry him. Or you can leave him here for the rotters to be honest with you, I honestly do not care about him. You should have put him down before now."

"We can't just leave him here to die Jane!" Bonnie shouted, her eyes going wide as she stared at her in shock and Mike crossed his arms and stared at her, judging her. "We aren't monsters!"

"Weren't you the one who attacked Kenny and his group at that lodge?" Bonnie had the decency to look ashamed as she looked down at her feet but Mike just kept staring at her, Jane shook her head and turned back to look at the Russian kid. He was giving her a hell of a dirty look and Jane wanted to punch him, how many other people would have stolen his meds, she and Clem had only done what anyone would have done, Jane had been trying to keep him alive, to keep them all of alive. The sheer amount of ingratitude made her so pissed off.

Kenny let out a groan on the ground at the same time as a moan came from the woods, she couldn't make anything out but Jane could see a figure in the distance stumbling towards them. She turned to look at Mike and Bonnie. "Whatever you're going to do, decide now. I am not going to help you carry him and I am not staying here."

She pushed past Bonnie and Mike and began to walk back down the road, not stopping as she moved. After a while of moving she heard footsteps coming from behind her and she turned to see Bonnie and Mile following after her, Arvo walking behind them and Kenny nowhere to be seen. It was about time that they faced the facts, Kenny needed to be put down. And now it had been done.

They walked for at least a few more hours, no one saying anything. There really wasn't anything to say when it came down to it. None of them really wanted to be together, the only thing that bound them at the moment was getting to Clementine. Of course, she was probably still miles ahead of them and soon they would come up to turnings and forks and then they would have no idea which way she had gone and she would be lost to them, at that point they would probably all head their separate ways which would be for the best, she didn't care about any of them and none of them trusted her.

"Look!" Mike's voice cut through the silence of the forest and almost made her jump as the man pointed out a large shape in the darkness of the night, it took a moment for eyes to adjust but then she saw it, it was the truck that had been outside of the house. The one that Clementine had taken. Jane didn't even recognise that she was running until she was standing in front of the driver side door.

It had been left open and when Jane saw that the fuel indicator had slipped into the empty position she frowned, there hadn't been as much fuel as she had been expecting. There was no sign of Clementine that she could see. "She must have jumped out and started walking, the seat's still warm so we couldn't have been too far behind her. If we hurry we might be able to catch up with her, any chance that she left the supplies in the trunk."

Mike had beaten her to that thought and had opened the trunk but once Jane had turned to look at him he had already closed the trunk and shook his head, Jane let out a sigh shook her head.

A scuffle to the side drew her attention and Bonnie let out a shout and Jane had just enough time to see that Arvo had grabbed her gun and was pointing it before her before she heard a loud bang and felt something wet drip down her neck, she felt light headed and like vomit was coating the inside of her throat trying to escape.

She heard shouting and screaming and scuffling and more gunshots filling the air before the world went black and Jane knew nothing else.

End of Chapter Three

* * *

 **Well, this chapter took a while and went a bit darker than I was expecting. Next chapter we'll be checking in with Clementine and finding out what happened to her and who ambushed her, all I will say is it is someone from Season Two.**

 **With much love and many thanks,**

 **Doctorwhofan12345.**


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